The
fascination for the Cosmos is as old as mankind itself. Humans have
gazed at the Stars and the Planets for as long as we can and care
to remember. In fact one could go even further... Who has ever seen
a dog or an ape... gaze at the heavens?
Being "Human" seems somehow related to this feat.
Are we humans because we gaze at the Stars or do we gaze at them
because we are human?
Did the heavens make us human...?

Finding the answer to this question might tell us were we come from
and were we will go...It
is an historical fact that most of our culture has come, directly
or indirectly, from the observation of the heavens. Interestingly,
the further one looks in time, the stronger this relation becomes.

Remember
the famous Stonehenge or other Celtic monuments, or the pyramids,
cathedrals, all these monuments symbolically directed at the stars?

Freud was wrong! Unlike what he claimed, churches and towers were
not reflecting hidden sexual aspirations... but were simply pointing
fingers, spiritual Spaceships aspiring at the heavens. (If old Freud
used to see a phallus symbol in a church tower, just imagine what
he would think of the all new vibrating European launcher Ariane
5 !)

At
a time were even the word "space travel" was unknown, the rich an
mighty Egyptians of the antique, prepared for their final departure
to the world beyond by building huge Pyramids (spaceports) but also
by preparing a "light" version of everything they might need
during their long trip. This is exactly what modern Astronauts do
while preparing for a space flight!

So the idea of Space travel is in fact nothing new. It is but the
hardware of a very old longing... a dream as old as mankind itself!
Even
religion, mathematics, and art have their roots among the stars.

Isn't Paradise supposed to be in the heavens? Weren't most artists
in the past painting for religious purposes, or reflecting mystic
feelings associated with the Heavens? Why were the greatest mathematicians
also renowned Astronomers (or vice versa)?

The
highly praised "gravity swingbys", a measure used by scientists
to direct and accelerate or slow-down spacecraft, are based on calculations
made by Astronomers 400 years ago! In fact one could say that we
were able to calculate such orbits mathematically long before real
mathematics were born!

Our
present ability to build spaceships is therefor nothing more than
the loop being looped. Thousand year old cosmic knowledge and apprenticeship
is finally being turned into usable hardware and ... Spaceships!
The ultimate technology,... returning there were it originated ...
in the heavens. Ironically
enough, it seems that, the more we integrated and used the "Cosmic
Culture" over the centuries, and the more our personal comfort increased
thanks to it, the more we became personally distant to our source
of inspiration. Now that this "cosmic integration" has finally brought
with it the capacity to build spaceships, familiar voices resound
calling for an end of the Space programs.

If space probes and manned spacecraft bring us closer to the heavens
on the one side, we have lost the habit of gazing at them on the
other, either because we haven't got the time, either because pollution
"blacks out" the night sky.

The
greatest threat to the future of mankind may not be our nuclear
arsenal, but comfort induced lack
of vision

Will
we have the insight to recognize the real potential of Space Conquest
for the future of mankind, instead of starting space programs just
to satisfy the needs of the Space Industry?

Space
World makes no difference between someone interested or involved
in Space technology and a UFO
"believer", someone interested in Astronomy or a follower of Astrology,
New Age, Techno Music ... etc. ... as in our opinion they have all
something in common; they gaze at the Stars and they are interested
in Spaceships.

These
(and others) are some of the the different cultural reflections
of a huge historical movement, that is changing our world and our
way of thinking. Thus Space World was specifically designed to interest
a wide variety of people.

Space
World includes Art because women, and with
them 50% of the population, seemed to be attracted to it more than
men, who are more interested by the technology, although this trend
is changing too.

The
exhibition tries to reflect on all of these aspects, while promoting
the need for a dynamic, intelligent Space Program